by jphilo | May 31, 2013 | Family
One year ago today, the man of steel was bedridden with back pain. About a week later, the doctor diagnosed a ruptured disk and recommended back surgery.
The next few weeks put a strain on or marriage and revealed some flaws in his character and mine. After the surgery was over, the hospital stay put more strain on our marriage.
By July the man of steel started physical therapy, he started regaining man cards one after another. Eventually, he was given the okay to start a walking and running regime. Little by little, through the summer and fall, the physical therapist increased his running time.
He followed her instructions. To. The. Letter.
He spent late winter afternoons after work running on a treadmill in the physical therapy exercise room. Come spring, he started running outside.
Run 2 miles. Walk 1 minute. Repeat 3 times.
Every other day.
Run 3 miles. Walk 1 minute. Repeat 2 times.
Every other day.
Run 4 miles. Walk 1 minute. Repeat 2 times.
Every other day.
Tomorrow, he’s running in the Des Moines Dam to Dam half-marathon.
He’ll run 4 miles. Walk 1 minute. Repeat 3 times.
It’ll be a great day.
His back is stronger than ever.
Our marriage is stronger than ever.
And we’re thankful, the man of steel and me.
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by jphilo | Feb 25, 2013 | Daily Life
Who knew remodeling could be sexy? Certainly not me, until I went upstairs to investigate the progress on the hall floor project. Remember that project? The one we foolishly thought would take only a month or two. The one that enters its eleventh month of progress (or lack thereof) in March.
With no end in sight.
The finish work came to a screeching halt when a respiratory virus nailed both of us in January. But the man of steel is hard at work again, attacking the baseboards with plaster of Paris and a putty knife. I’m not sure what the purpose is, but he assures me it’ll look great…eventually.
Whenever eventually comes.
In the meantime, and perhaps in an effort to snazz things up in the midst of the mess, he decided to tape off the baseboards with not only customary painter’s tape, but also with the leopard skin duct tape that somehow landed in his Christmas stocking a few years back, along with hot pink and Hello Kitty varieties.
He was not amused at the time.
But now he’s come to grips with Santa’s thoughtless de-mannifying of the most manly of man tools: duct tape. In fact, the man of steel is expressing his inner interior decorator more the longer the project drags on. Revealing his feminine side in a most manly and surprising way. With leopard skin duct tape.
Remodeling doesn’t get any sexier than this.
by jphilo | Jul 9, 2012 | Family
Even though today’s our thirty-fifth anniversary, the man of steel’s feeling a little grim. He has been ever since he ruptured a disk and started losing man cards right and left.
- He lost the first card when he landed flat on his back in excruciating pain.
- He surrendered a second man card when he admitted he needed Tylenol for the pain.
- Loss #3 came when the woman of aluminum finally convinced him to rent a wheelchair.
- He lost the fourth man card by agreeing to anesthesia during back surgery.
- A flurry of cards fell when his post-op restrictions included a five pound weight limit, no driving, no twisting, and no excess bending.
- The final card hit the dirt when he had to accept the help of friends and neighbors who mowed our lawn, trimmed bushes, brought meals, and changed the dressing on his incision while I was gone for a few days.
But within a week of surgery he started to replenish his deck.
- He added a card immediately by refusing to fill any pain killer prescriptions and not taking one pill during his recovery.
- He gained another card by walking a mile on his second day post op and working up to four miles a day within a week of surgery.
- Another man card entered his deck when he spent five hours running sound at church less than two weeks after surgery.
- And at his two week post op appointment, he earned back three man cards when the driving restriction ended, the weight restriction went up to twenty pounds, and he started bending and twisting under the supervision of a physical therapist.
However, all those gains were nearly wiped out earlier today. Over the weekend, he hauled out the mower, and it wouldn’t start. He drained out the old gas and put in new. It still wouldn’t start. He cleaned the spark plug. Still no go. This morning, he bought a new spark plug. To no avail. Finally, he called the mower repair shop and asked them to pick it up.
With that, he lost almost every man card in his deck.
He’s hoping to win a few at his doctor’s appointment this morning. Maybe the you-can-start-exercising-a-lot card. Or the lift-anything-you-want card. Or best of all, the go-back-to-work-tomorrow trump card.
Things are gonna get ugly around here that doesn’t happen. But I’ve come up with the perfect solution for anybody who’s beating himself up for forgetting to send an anniversary card. You can send Hiram a man card instead!
Either that or a new mower. The perfect anniversary present for both of us!
